Wongel Estifanos' Family Attorney: 'They Want The Full Truth' About What Happened At Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park
(CBS4) - 6-year-old Wongel Estifanos died riding the Haunted Mine Drop ride at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park over Labor Day weekend. A state investigation released weeks later revealed her seat belt was left off on Sept. 5 and that operators were alerted to the problem but launched the ride anyway.
"The operators knew that it was their job and their job alone to put these belts on these riders and if they didn't that rider was going to die," family attorney Dan Caplis said.
Caplis says they filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the family Wednesday morning hoping to get answers about how such a tragedy was allowed to happen.
"They want the full truth. They want this park to be held fully accountable and through that they want to protect other families," Caplis said.
The ride opened in 2017 and, according to Caplis, complaints were made to the park in 2018, 2019 and 2020 raising concerns about operators not checking that seat belts were on.
They are valuable witnesses that Caplis says were discovered only after Estifanos' case made headlines.
"It's extremely concerning to the parents because the State of Colorado had ordered Glenwood Caverns to turn over all prior complaints from customers. For example, this witness in Wisconsin who came forward because of media coverage had emailed Glenwood Caverns and explained this horrific event where someone wasn't belted," he said.
The amusement park does require that every rider sign a waiver of liability should something go wrong, but in this case Caplis believes that contract offers no protection.
"Under Colorado law a person can not waive recklessness. And Wongel was killed by multiple acts of reckless behavior," he said.
Park officials released a statement in response saying, "Glenwood Caverns is aware of the lawsuit. It would be inappropriate to comment on pending litigation. Our hearts go out to the Estifanos family and those impacted by their loss."
Caplis is asking anyone with similar experiences on the Haunted Mine Drop to contact their office.